


Looking Glass Girl

by stonefreed



Category: Tanis (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, not really tho, this is self indulgant and im sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 22:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10397499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonefreed/pseuds/stonefreed
Summary: Nic Silver is contacted by a person who claimed to have been in Tanis.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to the people in the Tanis discord who encouraged me to do this <33333  
> I very rarely write in script form, so this is a weird hybrid im sorry

The small cafe was filled with the smell of coffee and bread. I scanned the shop, looking for the girl in the Polaroid.

 

After I ordered a coffee, I asked about someone named Alyss, and the barista told me he’d get her right away. I sat down at a booth, tucked away in a dim and cozy corner of this place.

  

[ Interview transcript]

 

“Are you Nic Silver?” Someone, who I, correctly, guessed was the woman I had to talk to.

“Um, Yes? Are you Alyss?”

The best way I could describe Alyss, in one word was, _ethereal_. She had the presence of something that was barely contained in a human vessel.  
  
She was of medium build with tan skin covered in freckles, with long pastel tied back hair that was red at the roots.  
  
The _most_ striking features about her, however was the deep, forest green of her eyes, the right arm that was amputated at the elbow, and scars that covered the end of the arm and the rest of her body.

  
             [ PNWS Spooky Boom Noise ]

 

But, we’ll get back to Alyss later.

Last episode, I received a polaroid with an address and a name. I asked MK to dig into her name,

MK had _a lot_ to say about our mysterious photo woman.

 

[ MK’s Tech/Complaining Corner ]

 

“another fucking ghost Nic.”

“Are you _sure_?

“I’m _sure._ No way this woman's real name is Alyss.”

“What makes you say that?”

 

[ MK sighs in a mixture of frustration and exhaustion ]

“The name is a reference to two different things. Both have the same source material though.”

“Is it Tanis related?” [ Nic perks up ]

“No, _but_ it is kinda interesting. Have you ever heard of _The Looking Glass Wars_ or _American Mcgee's Alice_ and _Alice the Madness_ _Returns_?”

“Uh, not really?” [ Nic’s voice is apologetic and sheepish ]

“Wanna guess what the source material is?”

“Is it Alice in Wonderland?”

“Ding-ding-ding. Correct. The looking glass wars is a book series, and the other two are video games. A ghost with good taste.”

“So, no luck?”

“I might need a bit more information about her. But I’ll keep digging.”

 

“Thanks MK.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

[ Skype hang up noise ]

  
So, what did about Alyss?

 [ Interview Transcript ]

[ Sounds of a restaurant/cafe and a quiet acoustic guitar plays ]

“ _Soooooo_.”

“Your poking around in this stuff has put a lot of people in danger. I want you to know that.”

“I never intended to put others in danger.”

Alyss looked at me, and for a second, I felt like she was staring into my soul.

[ Alyss sighs ]

“You aren’t the first person to make it out of that _place._ ”

“And that place is Tanis.”

“The cabin, the woods, the cave. All of it.”

“Have you been there before?”

“Yeah, I have. Once. Never again.”

“Do you remember anything?”

“Bits and pieces. Mostly just wandering, looking. I do remember losing my arm. That’s the strongest, clearest memory for me.”

“How did you?”

“Are you squeamish?”

“Uh, not really?”

“I had been wandering for so long, I think. I remember that I was separated from them and that I was lost. It felt like days. I was hungry and tired. Eventually I made it to a room of mirrors and amber, and sat down.”

The next bit is a bit graphic, so those who are squeamish _might_ want to skip ahead.

“I dosed off, it felt like I had only just closed my eyes, when I heard _them_.”

“Them?”

“My group. The Photographer and my group’s Witness.”

“What, what happened?”

“They saw me and the best way to describe what they did to me, is that they jumped me.”

“Jumped you?”

“The Photographer held me back, and the Witness started to slice at me with a kitchen knife. They were covered in blood. They had lost their minds.”

“Lost their minds?”

[ Alyss groans ]

“Yes, lost their minds! They tried to hack me to pieces!”

“Did they take your arm?”

“No. That was, _something_ else. I managed to get free from them and I ran. I ran through five or six rooms before exiting the cabin. After I had gotten away from the cabin, that’s when that _thing_ attacked me. It was like a weird chimera creature. It made a scream that was a mixture of animal and human screaming, and it charged me. It slashed my neck and stomach, and my intestines spilled out, and I fell backwards and hit my head on something.”

“And??”

“It opened its mouth and it bit down on my arm. I had to pull it free.”

 “Oh.”

“Yeah. Funsies.”

“How old were you when you went into Tanis? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I was _almost_ seventeen.”

[ PNWS Spooky Scream Noise ]

“Sliver, have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“Uhh, not really. Why?”

Alyss pulled out her phone, snapping a picture and handing it to me. It took me a second to realize what the picture was

She and I shared the exact murky green eye color.

  
             [ PNWS Spooky Boom Noise ]

 

 

Alyss asked me not to air the rest of our conversation, and I agreed not to. She did give me permission to tell her story

She, Alyss, ran away from an abusive foster family at the age of 14, and worked wherever she could. She, apparently, filled out an application with [BEEP] as a part-time research assistant. She ended up getting enough money saved by the end of her first year to buy a small place in Seattle.

Alyss claims to be the only survivor of her group, barring the Runner. She claims to not remember the others’ names, as she was a bit of a last-minute replacement.

After she had left Tanis, she said she found herself in that area of the woods all the time; waking up in it, losing days and once, two weeks.

We’re there really others like me? Alyss claims that were many others like, her, no _us_ , that exist; That this podcast had put all of them in _danger._

 

Well, what to do now? Alyss has quite a lot more to say about Tanis, the Cult, the Grackles and Teslanova.

It's Tanis. I'm Nic Silver. We'll be back again soon. Until then, keep looking.

 

Tanis is produced by Terry Miles. Produced, mixed, and edited by me, Nic Silver. Executive producers Terry Miles and Paul Bae.

 

Nic: For legal and safety reasons, we've elected to change some names, and leave others out entirely. We don't do this very often, but we're not willing to compromise people's safety for any reason.

 

Thanks again for listening to Tanis.


End file.
